EU plans tough laws on energy efficiency

[jaganath]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/a4020216-5d48-1 ... e2340.html

[quote]Wasteful television standby settings and the energy efficiency of computers and water heaters are to be targeted in a new legislative drive aimed at slicing €100bn a year from the European Union’s energy bill, in a move that could impose Europe’s green agenda on the world.

...From next year he wants to implement directives setting down minimum energy performance requirements for 14 priority products, including boilers, computers, washing machines, office lighting and air conditioning. His plan says “special attention will be devoted to standby loss reductionâ€

[nici]

Reducing stand-by consumption should really make a big difference, that's where most of the stuff is most of the time anyway, and some stuff really do suck all the electricity they can get and do nothing with it except act as a heater.. Very annoying. And i hate the fact a lot of stuff doesnt even have a damn power switch anymore! Come ON! Powerbuttons should be mandatory so you at least have the option to turn stuff off when you want to. For example my monitor whines in stand-by. My options are to rip out the cord, or use a power-strip with a powerbutton. I use the powerstrip, i turn everything off when the computer is off.